Your time in Avowed's second zone Emerald Stair can end even worse than it began if you don't realize that you need to save Fior mes Ivèrno. Things start off badly enough with the failing crops, animancy zombies, and the dreamscourge, but the militant Steel Garrote has worse plans for the region if the Envoy doesn't intercede.
The thing is, it's really easy to miss your cue to come to the rescue. And if you don't take initiative, then Giatta's hometown is a goner. There's no dedicated sidequest and no quest marker telling you that you're about to make an irreversible oversight so you've got to be paying attention.
Even if you pick up on the hints that you should check up on the underground Steel Garrote presence in the area, you may be like me and just sort of forget to pursue that problem without a reminder hanging about in your quest log. So let's avert disaster on your save file where I failed.
How do you save Fior mes Ivèrno?
To save Fior, you need to attack the hidden Steel Garrote camp hidden in a waterfall cave west of Fior mes Ivèrno before completing the Ancient Soil quest. You can head to the waterfall cave just east of the Wildwoods Outskirts party camp without being prompted and solve the problem that way, but you'll also get a hint to investigate after completing the Steel Resolve quest.
At the end of that investigation into a traitor within the Emerald Stair rangers, which begins at their headquarters east of Fior, you'll score some information about a Steel Garrote plot to overtake Fior mes Ivèrno. If your ears have been perked, this won't be the first time you've heard chatter around town about suspicious Garrote activity, but it is your biggest clue on what to do about it. Kai straight up looks you in the face and says "We should look into that," when you're told about the secret cave hideout. Just don't be like me and let the lack of an actual quest marker slip your mind.
One way or another, you need to clear out this hidden camp of Garrote soldiers. The two guards you come across first will try to talk you into turning a blind eye. You can either impolitely decline, or pretend to take their advice and sneak around through a small side tunnel on your right to get a drop on their comrades. You'll have a few different groups of Garrote enemies to kill, ending with Captain Weyth. Six written notes around the cave from Inquisitor Lödwyn to Weyth reveal her plans to burn the city.
If you go on to the Ancient Soil quest without putting down this operation, that's exactly what they'll do. If you take a stand for Emerald Stair, things go (slightly) better.
What happens to Fior mes Ivèrno?
Whether you save Fior or allow it to get stomped on by the Steel Garrote, the citizens will wind up needing to flee and you'll choose to send the Fiorans to Thirdborn or Paradis—either because the city's burned down or because you uncovered the dreamscourge threat is going to imminently consume Emerald Stair.
If you save Fior:
- The city and any quests there remain accessible
- Governor Vidarro leads citizens to flee the dreamscourge to either Paradis or Thirdborn
If Fior burns:
- The city is burned and becomes inaccessible, guarded by Steel Garrote
- Governor Vidarro leads the Fiorans as refugees to either Thirdborn or Paradis
- Giatta and Yatzli mourn the loss of the city
